Augusta car show supports children’s cancer program

Visitors look at Richard Breton’s 1930 Ford Model A snowmobile during a car show Saturday in the Augusta Civic Center parking lot. The event was a fundraiser for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

AUGUSTA — Danielle Beaulieu doesn’t remember having cancer. Why should she? The 16-year-old from Benton was only 8 months old when she was diagnosed with a neuroblastoma in the form of a cancerous tumor on her adrenal glands.

But her mother, Michelle Beaulieu, remembers; and she remains grateful for the help she received through the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. “We used it and the Ronald McDonald House,” she said.

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Danielle Beaulieu is interviewed Saturday during a car show in the Augusta Civic Center parking lot. The event was a fundraiser for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Spectators look at row of cars from the 1970s during a car show Saturday in the Augusta Civic Center parking lot. The event was a fundraiser for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

That’s why Danielle and Michelle both were volunteering Saturday at the Cruisin’ for a Cure car show, sponsored by New Dimensions Federal Credit Union, where the proceeds from entries and from concession sales would benefit the Scarborough-based Maine Children’s Cancer Program.

Michelle Beaulieu is a teller at the credit union’s office in Waterville; Danielle will be a sophomore at Lawrence High School in Fairfield. They were attired alike in the neon yellow T-shirts that identified the volunteers. Danielle said she has a special medical check-up each year as a result of having the cancer, but no other problems. “I remember getting a spinal tap and I remember bringing a pillow to school,” Danielle said.

The car show attracted 75 different vehicles, including a bright blue 2005 PT Cruiser convertible owned by Catherine Davis, of Oakland, a five-year cancer survivor.

“I bought it in 2009 just after my chemotherapy finished,” said Davis, executive vice president of New Dimensions Federal Credit Union. “I just liked the way it looked.”

She and her husband, Bill, an epidemiologist, helped select the car show as a fundraiser “because we live in a state with a summer that last three days. Everybody gets to bring out their cars before the snow returns in September,” he joked.

Most of the vehicle owners did not preregister, instead turning up at the Augusta Civic Center parking lot early on Saturday.

Proceeds from entry fees, food sales, raffles and a silent auction were intended to help fund the children’s cancer program, and the Davises said they hoped to reach $10,000 for the day. Catherine Davis said a number of area businesses donated items to the cause.

Tara K. Studley, development manager for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program, said the organization was grateful to the credit union for its efforts. “They are just wonderfully supportive,” she said.

One of the more unusual vehicles — and certainly most out of season — was a 1930 Ford Model A snowmobile conversion sporting a “Breton’s Live Bait” sign. With tracks and skis, it looked as though it would have been far more comfortable in winter rather than parked under a bright sun on a warm day in Augusta. It arrived at the show on a trailer.

Owner Richard Breton, of Vassalboro, said he started out with the tracks and skis, then found a chassis in 2010. The truck is an homage to his father’s one-time bait business. Breton outfitted it with his mother’s figure skates, a scale to weigh fish, a yardstick to measure the catch and even a couple of ice augers and other winter gear.

He owns a second Model A Ford, which he converted into a maple syrup truck.

Juan Loubier, of Winslow, had two trophies from other car shows on the leather seats in the back of his 2001 Saab Viggen, a vehicle named after a Swedish fighter jet, which was parked in the “Tuner” section with a number of other vehicles that had various modifications.

He lowered the car one-and-a-half inches, put in a 285-horsepower engine and opened the air intake, among other changes. “It’s my daily driver,” he said. “I take it to work, to a friend’s house.”

Loubier does all his own work on the vehicle. He pointed to the tire rims and front grill and bumpers, where he had coated the bright chrome with black rubber.

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